The Basilica of Our Lady of Socorro is a religious building that belongs to the artistic style called Levante Valencian Baroque. Its large size is due to the will of the Dukes of Maqueda-Arcos to build a temple. The construction was carried out in different phases, beginning construction around the 1650s. In a first stage the ship was built to where the chapels conclude. This period would finish around 1674, being in charge of the works the architects Francesc Verde and Pere Quintana, who were the same master architects who worked in Santa María de Elche. Later a new push is given, building the communion chapel between 1722 and 1729, which is attached to the head of the church transversally. The place occupied by the communion chapel was the site of the old church, which in turn had been the Muslim mosque. Finally, between 1729 and 1737 the works of the temple are concluded, rising the Dome and the Bell Tower by the master stonemason Lorenzo Chápuli. The shape of the temple is longitudinal and cruciform, an expression of classical architecture of the second half of the 16th century. It consists of a single nave, to give a feeling of spaciousness, without obstacles to be able to visualize the altar well. On the sides we find small chapels between buttresses that communicate with each other so as not to interrupt the religious office. The access to these is made from the central nave by means of arches of half point of high thread. The pillars that separate the chapels are marked by red crosses inscribed in a circle, a symbol that was made during the last consecration of the temple and that reproduces the twelve apostles as spiritual columns of the church. The longitudinal plan has a clear relationship with the main altar that rises on three steps. In it we find the main altarpiece, which is made of wood in a semicircular shape that adapts to the altar. It was built in the second half of the 18th century and corresponds to the Rococo style. In the center of the altarpiece there is a niche that houses the image of Ntra. Sra. Del Socorro, a sculpture from the middle of the 20th century. The side streets contain niches with the carvings of San Pedro and San Pablo. In the attic we can observe a relief of the Glory, where the Eternal Father is emerging from a cloud surrounded by angels-child and the dove is represented as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The roof is covered with a barrel vault with lunettes, which are those small half-moon vaults that are used to give light to the main vault. In the pendentives (curvilinear triangles that form the ring of the dome and rest on the arches), there are the representations of the four evangelists with their distinctive sign: Matthew with the Angel, Marcos with the Lion, Lucas with the Ox, Juan with the Eagle. It has three access covers. The main cover dedicated to the owner of the parish, Nuestra Señora del Socorro, whose authorship is attributed, according to the most modern studies, to the sculptor Juan Antonio Salvatierra, follower of Nicolás de Bussi The lateral cover of the side of the Gospel is dedicated to Saint Teresa of Jesus and the door next to the Epistle to Saint John the Baptist. We highlight: Angels, who are found in the 3 facades, are intermediaries between our world and that of the divinity. Fruits, symbolize abundance and respond to the desire for immortality. Flowers are the most abundant symbolic element of the temple, it symbolizes the transience of things. Leaves, very abundant in the façade, symbolize the whole of a collectivity, united in the same action and in the same thought. The sun and the moon are opposite signs that represent the conflicts of forces and the negative and the positive. The columns, masks, masks and cherubs, symbolize that they will protect everyone who does not enter with a predisposition to open up to the deity. The tower symbolizes the need to always be watching. The devil symbolizes that by remaining blindly subject to instinct, the fall of the spirit will occur. The crown symbolizes the reward of the proof of life and therefore a promise of immortal life. The parish was recognized with the distinction of Minor Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI by bull issued on July 15, 2006, adding to the basilicas of Santa Maria de Alicante and Santa María de Elche, thus recognizing the importance and influence of the temple in the religious celebrations, especially the Patron Saint Festivities in honor of Ntra. Sra. de las Nieves.
It was built, as indicated on its main facade, in the year 1803 on an old hermitage. The construction of the chapel is justified by the visit made in the fifteenth century San Vicente Ferrer to the village of Raspeig. The style of the church is neoclassical and in its facade you can see two columns with the smooth shaft. The floor of the church has a Latin cross structure with side chapels. In the center of the church stands a large dome topped by a weather vane. The main tower of the church was destroyed by its dilapidated state in the second half of the twentieth century and currently the one that exists is a replica of the previous one. It is a beautiful building that contrasts with the narrowness of the adjacent streets.
The hamlet of Alicante, called Monnegre, is located north of the municipal area and separated from it by those of Muchamiel and San Vicente del Raspeig. On the edge of the CV-819 road was located the old hermitage of Chapitel (Our Lady of the Desamparados), later, at about 600 meters, in the vicinity of the channel of the Monnegre River are a series of buildings, currently in ruins, of considerable dimensions. It is popularly known as "Casa Grande" and "Casa del Cura de Monnegre" although in various cartographies it is designated as "Casa del Capellán". On the right side of what the main building must have been, the remains of an enclosure that once was a hermitage of which we do not know its advocation remain. Given the situation of the environment, we deduce that it would be of private use. The attached building, as we said above, on the right side of the main building, is built with masonry walls, gabled roof in curved tile. Plant of unique ship with a small enclosure to its left that, presumably would be used as sacristy. On the south facing façade, access in ogival arch and on this, a large round oculus.
This hermitage was founded at the end of the 14Th century. The selection of the patron, Saint Christopher, is linked with its location as a control point of the north and east entrances of Cocentaina. The building has a rectangular plan that measures 11,70 x 2,80 metres, consisting a oratory nave, vestry and dwelling designated to the hermit that is nowadays a restaurant. On the main altar there is an altarpiece dedicated to the Saint painted in 1815, by Soler y Diego, a scribe from Cocentaina. The painting was restored in 1995. A legend tells that in the mid of the 15Th century a hermit called Pedro Juan Escuder lived there. He was a mythical figure in Cocentaina because of his prophecies. The architectural complex and its surrounds are now an important visiting area for the recreation of Cocentaina and its surrounding towns, together with tourists.
Church of ‘Saint James’ dedicated to the patron saint of the town, is set at the very top of the Old Town on a hill called Canfali. It is a Neoclassical building, built in the 18th Century with the typical blue Mediterranean dome. Inside you´ll find a statue of the Virgen del Sufragio, the well-lovedpatron saint of Benidorm. The Virgin has her own small chapel containing the little wood sculpture which, as the story goes, was found on a boat adrift on the high seas.
In Altea, in the Altea Hills Urbanization, there is the first Russian Orthodox Church built in Spain. Built in wood, the church is very picturesque and very pleasant to visit. If there is no ceremony, you can visit it inside. If you are in the area, the visit is curious and you should not miss it. All materials have been brought for construction from Russia, and built with Russian labor. Not all. The bells are Spanish. Enjoy a church like no other in Europe in Altea.
Parish Church, dedicated to the worship of Santa Teresa and the Virgin of the Helpless , was built in 1849, replacing the first to be built in El Campello in the late eighteenth century, at the expense of the owner and master of the place , D. Ignacio Perez de Sarrio . It is small in size, despite having undergone several expansions, and retained its "local color". The biggest holidays, today Fiestas "Moros y Cristianos"From 11 to 15 October, which originally were held in May dedicated to the Virgin of the Helpless, they had to move to October because the male population well into the twentieth century, was absent at that time and he did not return in months. Therefore, the parties are engaged today to both the Virgin of the Helpless and Santa Teresa The square in which is the parish church is a meeting place for the most festive and religious events of El Campello.
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